Wheel of Life

Redress your work-life balance so you can do all the things you need to do and want to do, too.

When you're stressed or overloaded at work, it's easy to lose sight of other important parts of your life.

This is when you need to take a step back and look at the big picture. The Wheel of Life can help you think about each area of your life and figure out where it might be off-balance.

The Wheel of Life is a picture of your life – as it is now and as you'd like it to be. Each area of your life is one spoke of the wheel. You can use the interactive tool on our web site to create a wheel, or draw one yourself.

Begin by thinking of six to eight "dimensions" of your life that are important to you. These might include your role as parent or manager, for example, and aspects such as education, friends or health. Once you have your list, write each item on a separate spoke.

The next step is to assess how much time and attention you're giving to each dimension. Use a scale of zero to 10, where zero means you're ignoring it and 10 means it dominates your life. Mark your scores on the wheel, working out from zero at the center to 10 on the rim.

Now draw a line from score to score, working round the wheel until all the points are joined together. What does it look like? Are any parts clearly out of balance?

Remember, different dimensions will need more or less attention at different times in your life, so there's no one right answer. The goal is not to make a perfect circle, but to think about how much attention you'd like to give to each part of your life. So, plot your ideal scores on the diagram, too, and visualize how things could be for you.

Now it's time to take action! Design some goals for yourself that will help you focus more on what's important to you. Check out any neglected areas, as well as those that take up too much of your time. What can you do to regain some balance? Make a commitment to these actions by writing them down, and start right away.

For more information about the Wheel of Life and how to complete one using our interactive tool, see the article and the infographic that accompany this video.